Improved invalid bedstead



'dlfniied 'gaa-irs' ALBERT J. RUSSELL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDWALTER W. ROWLES, 0E SAIVE PLACE.

Letters Patent No.- 104,7 74, ,dated June 28, 1870 metcdatell .Tune 16, 1870.

IMPRovEn zNvALrD BEDSTEAD.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters VPatent. and making part of the same To all whom it may concor-n:

Be itknown that I, ALBERT J. RUssELL, of the city and county` of Baltimore, and State of Maryland, have invented a new and improved Invalid Bedstead; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to theaccompauying drawing making a part of this specification, in which- Figure ll is a side elevation;

Figure 2, an end elevation; and

Figure 3, a plan view. v

rlihis invention is an improvement on that patented by RowLEs 8a RUSSELL, March 24, 1868*.

The invention has for its object, as the former onedid, the raising of a sick person from his bed, for the `purpose of allowing the latter to be freshlymade,

and the restoring ot' the patient to the bed again, -all without pain to him. l

`'Io this end it relates to the simultaneous employment of two `bedsteadsone. above and voutside the other, theinner onel sustaining merel the' mattress, and the upper one being provided wit v a contrivance for raising and lowering and supporting the other bedding, thatpart of which that is beneath the patient being so contrived, as' described in said patent of RowLEs 8a RUSSELL, that it maybe lemoved and replaced without lifting thev patient of the bed, and withoutin any way disturbing him.

The invention consists4 in improvements o n Ythe ,method of 'tightening the cot in the upper bedstead, and in the construction of one of the legs of the upper bedstead intwo parts, for the purpose oi' drawing the upper bedstead oii from the lower one at-the side.

lIn the drawingi A is the upper bedstead, placed on casterwheels, andsuspended in legsA A', and of a size 'such that it `may be moved over or moved off from the inner bedstead B.

The latter supports ainattress, and the upper bedstead a pair of cots, a a, each of which is large enough to ll the bedstead, but part only of eachI ot' which is attached, the remainder trailing below, so that one may be wholly removed from the bedstead, 'and the' other wholly^ fastened `upon it, while the patient is lying on it, as set forthinthe patent of RowLEs & RUSSELL, for `the purpose-of changing the lower sheets i without disturbing-the patient.

The ents-are fastenedlto knobs a', placed along the outer sidesof the ilank pieces A" of the bedstead,by means of loops, a," aiiixed, by their inner ends, tothe edges of the nots.

'.lhe connection, in the original* invention, between the cots and dank pieces, is eiiected by eyelet-hcle's-in the former, which is not so convenient a method as that by loops,especiallyv when the cots are stretched at all tightly.V

The stretching of the cots is eiected b set-screws,

l), passing through the ends of the iiau pieces A, and abuttingv against the surfaces 7;' of the end pieces Af" of the upper bedstead, the heads b" of the setscreivs bearing against ba1jsc fastened across the forked extremities of the end pieces A` Hence, on turning the setscrews in the' proper direction, the iiank pieces A are drawn outwardly, thus tightening the sots. v f

A This invention contein lates vthe actual contact 0f the cots of the upper' be stead with the vmattress of the lower during the greater'portion of theptime when the patient is iny bed, and it also contem lates the raising and lowering of the cots, withI re' erence toY x the mattress,` for the 'purpose of lifting the patient from the latter, or replacing him upon it. A p

The flank pieces A are, for this pulpos placed in slots, made lengthwise ofthe legs D, an are each provided, on theirlower sides, with a windlassr (1,.hav ing a crank, d', and ftwl and' ratchet, d. i

Around the wind asses are coiled cords e, the ends` of which areled up through orifices in theiiank pieces,- and run over the ends of xedbars, D', sup orted in the tops of the legs D, the extremities of t e cords .beingfastened to the upper sides of the flank pieces.v

On rotatin the cranks and windlasses in the proper direction, t e flank pieces are raised or lowered for the purposes above set forth.. l

In the former -invent-ion this process was etiected by a screw at each corner. Herewe dispense alto gether with screws, and avoid the diihcult and tedious princess of adj nstinm the four corners of the bedstead to the sanie'heightqby proi'fiding a device that moves one side at a time, it being comparatively easy to regulate one side by another. p

, .The caster-wheels, upon which the upper bedstead runs, are inserted in the forked ends of the lower por-- tions, 7l, of the legs, one of such lower portions having a groove made across its upper end, in which groove is placed the tightly fitting spreading endh/ of the upper part of the legs. V

By this arrangement the lower part h may be slid off from the spreading ends h', so as to enable the upper bedstead to be pulled oii' from the lower-one at the side, the upper part ofthe leg passing over the lower bedstead.

E is a lever hz ving a-hook, Ai connected with it by a cord. vThe book is intended to be'placed in fork -of one offthe loops, and the lower end of the lever, having a recess cut in it for the purpose, is then placed against the upper o uter vcorner of thelank piece A.

By drawing the upperv end of the lever outward the cot is tightened sufficiently to make slack enough to' 2.'The leg A', made in two parts, vthe upper portion having the lower spreading end h', and the lower portion having a groove in its upper end, shapedto receive said spreading end h', substantially as and for the result sta-ted.

A. J. RUSSELL.

VVilvitnesses:

D. BIRDE, MATTHEW E. QU'INN; 

